BENGALURU: Residents usually raise their arms against commercial structures coming up in their areas. Now, industry bodies are following a similar route: they don't want residential structures to come up on land earmarked for industry. And the state government is ready to comply.

After facing complaints from industrial bodies on big apartments, residential layouts and individual houses creating problems for them, the state government is all set to remove "deemed residential status" given to owners of the plot in industrial zones.

Deemed status allowed the owners of plots in the area earmarked for industries to automatically build apartments or housing layouts without seeking a conversion or change of land use for "residential" purpose from the competent authority. The deemed status was incorporated into the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act in 2004. That luxury will now change.

"It is deemed that though you own a land for industrial purpose, you can convert into housing or residential purpose without special approval. The proposed amendment to KTCP Act, 1961 will remove the deemed status," urban development minister Vinay Kumar Sorake told TOI.

Explaining the details of the proposed amendment, SB Honnur, director of town and country planning department, said once the deemed clause is removed, the plot owner in the industrial zone will have to approach local planning authority to get his land converted to residential use.

"We had received a requisition from the commerce and industries department to amend the act as the industrial zone should be reserved for industrial activity purpose. This doesn't mean that no approvals will ever be given for residential purposes in industrial areas. The land owners can approach for change of land use," Honnur said.

The big establishments were engaged in battles with new residential complexes mushrooming near them. They allege that residential welfare associations (RWAs) often kicked up a fuss over trivial issues that affected their productivity and led to legal hassles.

According to sources in the industries department, industries located in Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) are facing huge problem with RWAs as hundreds of housing layouts and big apartments have come up on city outskirts.

NEW DELHI: After re-opening a probe into whether funds from the Rs 1,700 crore Tata Realty-Unitech land deal were diverted for spectrum purchase, the CBI is mulling the option of closing the case again